Motomiya Mao
Mao is the main character. She is a high school student who, after some special circumstances, ends up living with her childhood friend Hiro. Relationships Family Mother- Not much is known about Mao's mother. After marrying Mao's father she started having a relationship with another man. On Christmas, her husband came home early and found her cheating on him. She left soon after that. Father - When Mao was born, her father was extremely kind and worked hard to support their family, but after finding out his wife was cheating on him the whole time he became cold and uncaring. Despite his constant efforts to drive Mao away, she still wants to build a relationship with him. He seems to be kind to everyone but Mao after his remarriage and he thinks that Mao will just leave him like her mother. Stepmother- The stepmother is one of the main driving forces in getting Mao to come back home. She originally didn't want Mao to intrude on her life but after a while she realized that Mao had left a gaping hole in their family. Mao has started having more contact with her family now, due to her stepmother. Stepsister- We don't know much about their relationship before the chapter in which Mao is invited to her birthday. That day she tells Mao she feels she left home because of her but the misunderstanding is cleared up instantly. After that their relationship seems to be improving. Nakamura's Family Nakamura's Mom - The mother of the Nakamura family treated Mao extremely kindly and often invited her to dinner. She was able to actually break Mao's cold exterior and comfort her when she cried. She acted very much like a mother to Mao. Nakamura's Father Hiro Hina Daiki - When Daiki was younger he was comforted by Mao when crying in the rain after his parents death. Daiki is shown to have feelings for Mao despite knowing she is in love with Hiro. He can be rude and uncaring to Mao but deep inside he loves her. Despite knowing he will get rejected, he confesses and tells her to think about it. After a while, Mao tells him that he's a great catch but she really loves Hiro. School Friends Thanks to a missunderstanding with a boy who bullied her during elementary school she was tagged as a weirdo. Still, she was able to meet some friends. Chihiro- Oda- Others Radical- History Childhood When she was little, her parents were rarely at home "working for her sake" (or she thought) so she was alone most of the time. One day when she was eating alone by the shrine, she was seen by Nakamura Hinata, the daughter from a new family in the neighborhood. Soon after she was invited to eat at the Nakamura's house. One night, at the Nakamura's she declined dinner saying her family was waiting for her at home. When she arrived home she found herself alone. Suddenly her mom arrived, but the her joy disappeared when she saw a man (who obviously wasn't her father) arriving with her mother. Next scene we see Mao crying near the shrine when Nakamura Hiro finds her. She tells him her parents are getting divorced so she needs to decide where she will live; to what he responds: "If you don't like an of your choices, why don't you stay at my place?" Those words made her happy though it was not an option. She decided to stay with her father and so she moved a couple of stations away. Even then she continued to go frequently to the Nakamura's until she became part of the family. After the sudden death of Hiro's parents, the younger siblings moved with some other relative. Mao couldn't go there as she used to before the accident but always tryed to support and help Hiro, who being the oldest and wanting to stay there, began to work to keep the house until the day his family could live again together. Adolescence Several years after, we see Mao in high school. We know she is writting an online novel which she updates from her phone. Her father has now a wife and a stepdaughter. She likes them, but doesn't feel she belongs there. After skipping dinner with her family due to her feeling of alienation, she ends up eating by the shrine alone a bentou from a convinience store. Hiro bumps into her (who was now at the verge of tears). He treats her to dinner and after invites her to stay at his home for the night which ends up being a long term stay.